Yes, I Do
by Hail-Knight
Summary: A best friend realizes how much she really loves her best friend. When her birthday party comes, he gives her the greatest gift he could ever give. OCxKankurou


**~Yes, I Do~**

Emi looked around for the boy who had once been by her side. The puppet master was well known for wandering off. Especially when there was an attractive girl involved. It was tiring to look for the flirty seventeen year old boy. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but it bothered her when her friend of three years flirted with other girls. When his attention wasn't on her, it felt wrong, like she missing something. Finally her eyes rested on the boy she had been searching for. Of course, he was speaking to another girl; flirting, no doubt. "Kankurou, would you stop flirting with every girl you see?" she asked, pulling the boy away from the girl. He wore an arrogant smirk.

"Does it make you jealous, Em?" he asked in a taunting voice. Emi turned to glare at him. How dare he? The way he spoke made her sound like she was a love struck puppy who couldn't handle someone else touching what belonged to her. That made her thoughts come to a halt. He didn't belong to her, though. "Em?"

"Why would I be jealous?" she asked in a disgusted tone. They walked through the door of a popular music store. Emi immediately began searching through the dance section of the CDs. An aggravated sigh left her lips as Kankurou helped her search through the CDs.

"Because I wasn't flirting with you," he found one of the albums she was looking for and handed it to her. Emi was still agitated, but her features seem to be amused. Looking at her, he found that he loved her long black and brown hair. The way it draped across her shoulders and the way the bangs swept in front of her face; it was so beautiful. When she looked at him with her bright green eyes, they contained an emotion he couldn't identify. But they were just as beautiful as her hair.

"I could care less whether or not you flirt with girls other than me. However, when it gets in the way of my priorities, it gets annoying. Especially when you said you would help me," she looked up to meet his eyes. The usually black sharp eyes were so warm when they looked at her. Every time he looked at some girl, she noticed, that his eyes weren't as warm when he looked at her.

"So why do you need these CDs of dance music anyway?" Kankurou asked with false curiosity - he already knew - but regretted it afterwards. Hurt found its way into her expression. He hadn't been listening to he when she was explaining to him about the party Temari, his sister, was throwing for her. It was her birthday party and she was allowed to pick a few CDs along with the music Temari had chosen. Did he not remember that it was her birthday in a few days?

"Do you not listen to a word I say? Can't you even remember what event is coming up?" she questioned in a angry and hurt tone. Kankurou looked at Emi's expression; she was hurting more than she was showing, he knew. Coming up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest.

"Of course I know what event is coming up. It's your birthday; your seventeenth birthday. Also, it's the day when you and I had become friends," he spoke in her ear. She was shocked to hear that he really did remember. Especially the part of them becoming friends on her birthday. "How could I ever forgot the day of your birthday? You are the most important person to me. I just didn't realize that the music was for your birthday party."

"If I'm so important to you, then why do you ignore me?"

"I never ignore you. I heard every word. 'Temari, said I was allowed to choose a CD for my party. She also wants me to buy the music that she has chosen. Are you going to help me or are you going to flirt with girls all day?' See? I heard every word," he smiled and released her. She turned to look at him with an unsure expression.

"Why do you always act like you don't? You know how much it upsets me."

"I'm sorry, but you look so cute when you're angry," he watched as a blush spread across her face. All he did was smile and continued to search for the other CDs that Temari wanted.

"Kankurou, you really are a pain in the ass," Emi sighed and pulled the last CD she needed from the rack. As she paid for the music, Kankurou chuckled.

"That may be true, but you still love me."

"You have such a huge ego."

"Come on, Em. You can't say that you really hate me," Kankurou took the bag from her as they walked out of the store. Emi sighed as she saw a blond haired girl with brown eyes approach them. Or approach Kankurou, really.

"Hi, Kankurou. Emi," she slightly scowled at the girl as she said her name. Emi merely rolled her eyes and walked away from the two. What Kankurou said to the girl, she had no idea, but she didn't care. As she entered her house, she noticed that Kankurou was not behind her. She was in the kitchen when he came into the house ten minutes later.

"Em-"

"You don't have to say a single word, Kankurou. I know that random girls come before me," her words hurt slightly, but he knew that she was just upset. She wasn't even looking at him. She was putting the food that Temari wanted in a bag so it was easy to bring to the Sand siblings house.

"Random girls don't come before you. Like I said before, you are the most important person to me. Em, there's no need to get upset," at his words Emi spun around from the counter to give him a small glare. It was the best she could do. Her face was red with embarrassment; he knew that she was upset. How?

"Upset? I'm not upset. What would make you think that I'm upset? Because I'm not. Nope. Not at all," she spoke too quickly, confirming that she was indeed upset. Kankurou walked over to her and pulled her into another tight embrace.

"Your words say you're not, but your face says otherwise," he said into her ear. "You should know that I can read your face better than anybody else."

"I hate how you make it so hard to stay mad at you," she mumbled into his chest. He couldn't but smile as she ran her hands up his chest to wrap her arms around his neck. For the three years they had been friends, Emi had learned that working with puppets had given Kankurou a natural wood scent. She had also learned that she loved the smell of him. For Kankurou, he had found out that she usually smelled of flowers; lilies mostly. And like Emi had found that she had loved his smell, he found out that he loved the smell of her.

"And I love that fact," he chuckled as she smacked his head playfully. "What? I'm just being honest."

"Would you just help me bring these bags to your house?"

"Of course," he said, grabbing half of the bags while Emi got the rest. They walked towards Kankurou's house. "Em, you're friends with Yayoi, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Emi glanced at Kankurou with a curious expression. He paused and looked at her with an embarrassed look. "What is it?"

"Gaara is . . . interested in her and . . . well; he doesn't know how to approach her. I was wondering if-"

"If I could do some meddling and get her to approach him?" she asked with a dazzling smile and continued to walk towards their destination. Kankurou followed her and waited for her to say something more. "How long have you been waiting to ask me this?"

"A week. Temari and I had a discussion - argument really - of who should ask you. In the end, it was decided I should."

"Why?"

"Because Temari threatened me with her fan and let's not forget the fact that you love me."

"Ha! Temari threatened you with her fan? I can't believe you with your deadly puppets got scared of a girl with a fan," Emi giggled and watched as his expression changed from embarrassment to chagrin. "I'm just kidding!"

"No need to make fun. I'm already disgraced by the fact that my older sister threatened me and succeeded in getting me to do something."

"Don't be upset. It's not a big deal. You should have just come to me about the whole thing. It's not a big deal."

"So you'll help?"

"Of course," she smiled and walked up the steps of his porch. There was no need to knock. She was always welcome in the house. Kankurou had given her a key to the house, as she had given him a key to hers. "Don't worry about a thing. At my party, they'll hook up."

Emi kept true to her word. She spoke to Yayoi and told her she and Gaara would be a great couple. It wasn't easy, though, to get Yayoi to believe so. No, she believed she wasn't good enough for the Kazekage. So getting her to approach him would be harder than she thought. But it would happen; she would make it happen.

Her birthday came quicker than she expected it to. People kept coming up to her, wishing her a happy birthday. Even Gaara wished her a happy birthday. All day she had people coming up to her. There would be many people at the party that Temari was throwing. As it came closer, she wondered where Kankurou was. She hadn't seen him all day. And when she finally entered the Sand siblings' house to join her birthday party, she didn't see him either. A feeling of dread went through her body as people greeted her. She wore a fake smile as she looked for her friend.

Emi gave up after ten minutes and met up with Yayoi. "Come on, Yayoi. Go approach Gaara. For my birthday. Please," she begged her friend. Finally, the girl gave in and sighed.

"Fine. But you owe me," she said and walked towards the red head. As she approached him, he looked up from his talk with a Jounin. The talk with the man ended once she walked up to them. "Hi, Kazekage. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm good," the Jounin walked off, leaving the two to talk. "So, Kazekage, I was wondering . . . would it be okay to call you by your name?"

"Of course."

"Okay, so . . . Gaara. I . . . uh . . ." a blush spread across Yayoi's face. "I honestly don't know what to say." Gaara watched her in interest.

"Yayoi, I don't know about relationships, but I know for a fact that my brother likes Emi more than friend. I felt something for someone and know what it looks like," he stated looking away from her.

"Who do you like?"

"You," his simple reply shocked her and made her blush even more.

"So that's why Emi wanted me to come up to you," her words made him look at her.

"That's why you've come up to me?"

"I've always wanted to talk to you. But you're the Kazekage and that's intimidating."

"You don't have to be intimidated. I'm normal just like you."

"So you were thinking of trying to get Kankurou and Emi together?"

But there was no need for them to interfere. Kankurou had pulled Emi away from the party and pulled her towards his room. "Kankurou," she said as he closed the door and leaned against it. "I've been looking for you all day."

"Sorry. I was getting your present," he stepped away from the door and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. Emi took it from him when he held it out to her. Opening it, she saw a beautiful diamond ring. It was just like her mother's.

"T-this is . . ."

"Your mother's."

"B-but this had to be really hard to find."

"It was nothing."

"Why?" she asked looking up at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Because you are important to me and I love you," his whisper made Emi pull away and look up at his smiling face. Oh how she loved his smile. Immediately, she smiled back and he leaned down to press his lips against hers. She eagerly kiss him back and when they pulled away, Kankurou wrapped one arm around her waist. "Like your presents?"

"Presents?"

"The ring and me." That earned him a smack on the head.

"You are so annoying."

"But you love me."

"Yes, I do."


End file.
